China’s bitcoin rival claims are branded ‘nonsense’

The Chinese government has been working on the project on-and-off for almost five years, despite publicly eschewing bitcoin and other global cryptocurrencies. The crypto narrative from the political corridors of Beijing has been ramped up in recent weeks to the point of almost suggesting it has been designed to replace the physical Chinese Yuan within two years – something that to any other nation on Earth would seem as astonishing as it implausible. “There’s a massive potential cost for any nation facing the prospect of being late to the party with building a cryptocurrency infrastructure,” trader and exchange analyst Emile Shihao told express.co.uk.

“Over the next few years it is likely that cryptocurrencies will become mainstream and China, being the technologically advanced nation that it is, will naturally want to be at the sharp end of advancing that technology.

“But, in my opinion, something doesn’t quite add up with either the way the PBC is presenting this move or the very wild claims we’re hearing – some of it doesn’t make sense.”

One aspect of the many claims about the BTC rival and its ability to replace China’s physical currency that grates with observers is the fact that it will almost certainly rely on mobiles.

As advanced as the nation is with mobile phone technology, there is a fundamental flaw in the plan.

“One and a half billion people live in China – but more than half of that massive population do not own a smartphone,” explains banker Chi Gang.

“The government is talking about creating an asset that will overshadow bitcoin, and yet it couldn’t possibly do that because it simply has zero chance of being widely available to the people.

“China is nowhere near ready to execute this over ambitious plan, and the claims of Mu Changchun just simply don’t hold water – it’s nonsense.”

Despite the criticism, the PBC maintains it is pressing ahead with taking digital currency mainstream.

It was recently revealed the bank had registered several patents relating to crypto wallets designed to exchange yuan for a new cryptocurrency under the PBC’s control.